A Generation of Legends
by FenixOfTheDark
Summary: [AU] The fact is, everyone knows we trainers catch and train monsters. Maybe we even slave them to our will if we're lucky. Another fact is this: Every so often, Fate yeets an unwilling trainer into the stuff of Legends. I am one of these trainers, and you may know me as 'Leaf'.
1. Prologue

_A/N: Though the story's set in the same universe as An Unwanted Betrothal, you don't need to have read it to understand what goes on here. It's set in the past, and while it focuses on 'Leaf' and her thoroughly unwilling yeet into Legend, it does provide worldbuilding as to the world/Kanto that Bethrothal doesn't or can't. That said this chapter uses English names, but assume it's using the Japanese ones unless otherwise noted._

Updates every two to three weeks.

* * *

**-/- Prologue -/-**

_Transcript from the ONBS' interview, published in the Orren Times._

I know. "Leaf". Why would I have a foreign nickname? Well, for starters, _I_ didn't choose it and I sure as hell don't like it even _now_ and I'm almost twenty-four -I feel old. Am I old? No? Good. Anyway, I like my _name_ better. Eva Iden'no; according to mum, her great-great-grandmother came from the Seviis, but I think we can trace our roots to Cinnabar and her islands. But, it doesn't exactly matter where I came from; I am Kantan and proud.

'Leaf' is not Kantan, will _never_ be and I used to think the one who gave it to me could go fuck a cloyster. Sometimes, I still do, because what it is, is _rude_. Sure, it's a word in a dead(ish?) language given to me by one brat, one pain-in-the-arse, one rival named Satoru Oak, or "Blue", which is much like 'Leaf'. But, they are both _foreign_ and _alien_. They mark us as _other_. Never mind Satoru goes by both.

I call him _Satoru_ though. It's my right as his girlfriend and rival. Sometimes I'll use 'Blue', because, even after all these years, he still wears this stupid blue opal as a necklace.

I got 'Leaf' purely because I like leaf motifs; I have since I was a tiny girl in dad's arms, waving mum off to work, then running to her arms every evening. I put leaves in her hair so she'd match dad and then later my baby sisters.

_(Do you feel you missed out-)_

_No_, I don't feel I missed out on a parent; mum did as best she could and so did dad. He worked from home so he could look after us kids. Yes, he was a stay at home dad. But you need to understand, even then he was looked down on because it was -_and still is_\- seen as him taking away _mum_'s role as rice-winner and mother, like _she_ can't do both and needed a man's help because of it. It's dung and shit and whatever you call it because dad was -_and is_\- just happy to do more than balance books and cook.

As for why I like leaves and plants and flowers? It's because they remind me of nature; of the beauty it has.

_(That is quite the-)_

Head in the sand? Naive to our world of monsters view? _Please_. I'm a _professional trainer_ -some say 'legend'- with my own business in the industry. I know well the monsters we cage and keep on our belts. Of the power 'pokemon' hold; they _define_ this world. From the heavens to the deepest trenches of the ocean, _they_ rule and we don't. You cityfolk think you're safe behind powerful pokemon, gleaming towers of technology, and a Gym Leader. Maybe you are. Maybe all that is enough when a threat rears itself.

_(You attended the Viridian Wedding Match?)_

Yes, I attended Shinoda's wedding match, then the vow renewal cum wedding a year after that. I'm from the sub-region; they're my Gym Leader, just like Giovanni was. But, going back to what I said, I don't know if you're safe or just deluded, because Pallet is a township with hazy and ever-shifting borders between man and nature and monster.

Sure, it's one of the more famous towns under Viridian's protection because of the Oaks and the ranch they run, but it's a backwoods compared to places like Lavender and her Tower. What funding we get is because of the Oaks and you'd have to go back several generations to have a even chance at finding if we didn't have an Oak in the town. But, just because we get funding doesn't mean we're top of the list to protect in a national disaster; not when Pallet has her Oaks.

So, I know how cruel our world can be. I've _seen_ what a spearow can do to its prey. You think they got that name -_demon bird_\- for nothing? You have no idea. What about fearow... You _really_ have no idea, do you? Don't worry, I'll tell you in time. I've also seen first hand what a golduck does to its meal and drowning is the _least_ of your worries. But I've also seen the kindness within the world; people help people, we look after each other because it's what we _do_. We come together against whatever the world throws at us and we _thrive_.

But it's not just us humans. Pokemon _aren't_ sapient, but many of them _do_ care. Everyone knows the levels a mother fox goes to protect her kits. The way dragonite mate for life and how if one dies, they don't remate. Golisopod will nurture and protect her clutch of wimpod until said clutch is old enough. _A dragon and its eggs_. Nature is green and lush with striking beauty. It's also red and raw, with claws and teeth and beam attacks. Primality in it's finest. In its _deadliest_.

Now though? I live on Poni, the wildest of Alola's Islands. Some would say the deadliest, what with its dragons and the fickle and deadly "Tapu" fini, but not really. I'd say Mt Moon's more dangerous. Not just pokemon, but because of _people_. The cults around it are charged with murder every few years, and you can't say the same for any of the cults in Alola.

_(Such as Skull-)_

_Skull_ is an organization, _not_ a cult. Same with Aether.

Outside _that_, life is peaceful, even glorious to the point that, even if my language skills are at a basic conversational level at best, the land the Battle Tree sits on is _mine_. It comes with a good view of the mountains that hide the Dragon Canyons, and, spring can't come fast enough to cover them in a riot of colour and life in all its glory and brutality.

Also, Satoru. He works for me and speaks the major languages of the world, so that's a plus; he's basically my Admin and it's work he likes. He's a talented trainer of course; he was Champion ten years ago before his defeat, but he's also a natural for paperwork that far outshines anything related to pokemon battling.

But, living here, in Alola, is a reminder we humans teeter on a knife-edge, balanced precariously and flanked by monsters that play a _fundamental part_ in the world. We slave and train. We bond and we raise. We even breed them because we can and make them battle, and in that bloody, brutal thing we dare call sport, some of us manage to forge a path into Legend.

To quote an author I like: 'Glory is a path spattered with blood. With the corpses of the careless. It is an anvil that shapes us. The flame comes from the fires of adult moltres; from the pyres of adult ho-oh. For our wings fire-forged and our hearts made one with the ancient beat of the battle-dance of fate as he yeets us into space to become as stars. Not all of us survive the yeeting, but those that do, we shine eternal.'

I agree.

Why? That's simple. For all we celebrate and laude our technological sophistication, we still worship them. The legends. The myths. The gods. _Pokemon_. They hold power over us and we know it because we gasp in awe every spring, and we cower in the storm season with our prayers. We make offerings to them every single day. I know I do and I know Alola does. I've seen gods and myths and legends -the very monsters and things we call gods- in the flesh.

_(Even the videos?)_

Yes, also the videos. The baby arceus vid uploaded by Jai-Li in Sinnoh is cute, as is the anonymous clip of the baby bulu. But, no matter how powerful they grow to be, they aren't my main god, ok?

_(And that is?)_

You worship who you do and I who I do, because from the day we're born, our lives are _drenched_ in it. Our oaths and our curses. The shows we watch even if we don't think so. The news. The weather and the warnings and radars and I could go on, but the point is, we don't think about it. Anything, everything - the gods are around us, maybe even on our belts.

Well. No. That's a lie. We all have gods on our belts, even if we don't think of them as such because we tamed them and _made_ them ours. Thus, we forget what they can do...

_(Ms. Iden'no, we-)_

Right. You don't want a lecture for what you know. You want my story. It's why you're here.

Do you want the cliff notes; how I set out from Pallet with Tanknator, got a fossil, sat on a Rocket because he was mean, met Bill, and did my best to ignore the Rockets while collecting my badges and seething that a boy -_a boy_\- was besting me.

If that's all you want, then go. The cliff notes are boring and don't tell you what I experienced. The highs and the lows, the pitfalls and times it felt as if I'd _dared_ touch the sky-gods domain.

Believe me, by the time I'm done, you'll wonder _how_ I lived through what fate literally yeeted me into against my will with brake-lines cut and no Escape Rope. Luck? _Maybe_. I was thirteen at the time and it was probably more to do me being a professional trainer in the making, though even I admit when I started I was maybe a bit too overconfident, despite knowing my world like the back of my hand like any sensible person would.

_(You started from nothing, then?)_

Yea; most of us start off without step-ups or the like from famous people. I got lucky with Tanknator, but luck has _nothing_ to do with the skills I have now. That I earned because I learned, had to to _survive_, and didn't give up after a badge or two, or because training, the competitive sort, is hard. In my mind, _this_ is what makes us 'legends' a cut above the rest.

But, really, for all the skill I have and all people would say I'm a legend, I'm like you and everyone else in our world: _just a person_. Yet I know the world and learned how to game it. Is it cheating? Probably. I don't think so though.

So. Let's start the story with Tanknator.

And no. You can't translate what's said from here on out.


	2. Pallet: Part One

_From going forward, due to planned language shenanigans in future chapters, all pokemon names and some items within spoken dialogue are Japanese with translations given in the narrative. _

**-/- Pallet: Part One -/-**  
_Transcript from the ONBS' interview, published in the Orren Times._

"Oh, hi, Eva-san. What's up?"

"I-" Even though she brightened at the sight of one of the very few people outside of friends and family who consistently used her name, the words still caught in her throat. To blurt it out right away was rude, even if they'd known each other for years. "Uh-"

"Is Satoru being a pain again?" Daisy ventured and Eva blinked, opened her mouth, ready to both say 'yes' and to comment on how colour coordinated Daisy looked for once in her life, then decided against it. If the Oak heiress wanted to match her clothes and house slippers to the ceramic, sky-silver cup of jasmine-scented tea, then she could. It was effortlessly elegant as always, too, as if she had rolled out of bed dressed like that.

Of course she did. Eva thought bitterly, then squashed the childish jealousy down as hard as she could. She was _thirteen_, not some silly twelve-year-old who'd fiddle with her leafy print skirt like she was now. Eva forced her hands to still, to smooth out the skirt. Daisy was cool, yes, but there were more important things to focus on than some stupid desire to look good before an Oak. Looks wouldn't help her in a day or two when it was time to hit the road like an actual, proper trainer.

Not just some kid who played trainer with mum or dad's pokemon.

Legends, gods, and myths, but the day couldn't come fast enough. No-one cared what you looked like on the road, not even talent scouts. All they cared for was battle-skill.

"Eva-san?" Daisy asked, this time with a touch of concern that brought her back to the here and now.

"Not this time," Eva shook her head with an eye roll and a wry smile before she remembered her manners with a quick 'sorry!' and bowed. While Daisy might not have complained, Pallet was, by definition, a small town in the Kantan backwoods and the Oaks were a relatively old name. Not _kazoku_ or _kazoku_-descended by any means, but still old. "He's at the lab."

"Still?" Daisy shook her head with a scoff. "_Honestly_."

"Y- Wait-" Eva started, eyes narrowed and focused on Daisy as if she'd just imparted some great revelation about the world. Or, at least, about her soon-to-be-actual rival. "He's been there since noon-hour?"

It was nearing 3 pm. Gods and legends. She knew he was impatient -everyone who'd be heading out tomorrow was- but this was bordering on the absurd.

"Since 7 am," Daisy said with a short tsk and a sip of tea. "He's lucky mum was at work by then and Aunty hadn't shown up yet..."

Eva's eyes bulged. "Nine hours? That's _ridiculous_."

"Yes. Even I wasn't that bad..."

"Of course not!" Eva shook her head in denial. "You at least waited for the day!"

"That I did, then I drove mum and grandpa up the wall until it was time," the older teenager said flatly, though the crinkle of her eyes and the slight on-the-spot bounce betrayed excited amusement mixed with a hint of relief? No, that couldn't be right.

Not when the day a person became a trainer was one of the greatest milestones in her life. It ranked alongside the likes of walking, first words, and first pokemon. It was a freedom yes, but it was also a massive responsibility and a sign parents thought the child mature enough to face the world with nothing but a belt of monsters and her own wits.

"And you got a hitokage as Starter, right?" Eva asked more for the sake of it. She knew Daisy'd started with a charmander and that it was now a charmeleon. Everyone in Pallet turned out to watch young trainers get their Starter.

"I did, yes, and grandma showed up," Daisy said with a smile. Eva only nodded distractedly. Now she thought about it, it was odd she couldn't hear the TV or see the pokemon. Not when Daisy never muted it and let her Starter roam the house as it pleased.

"Where is he, anyway?" Eva asked as she peered around the woman and into the house. Starters were special. _Sacred_. Starters were more than the first pokemon a woman owned. They were always the pokemon she Started the Trainer Journey with. To 'box, release or sell it? That doomed the trainer. Superstition or not, the data held out: a Starter was for life.

That's why Eva knew Daisy still had her Starter even though she didn't see sign of it, nor, oddly, the rest of her pokemon. Instead, she spied Shin at the table, the seven-year-old's face a mask of intense, formidable concentration as he built and rebuilt tiny connect-o-blocks in various, intricately complicated configurations while his service-mon, Karen (an electrike), lay at his heels. Off to the side was a stack of books half as high as the boy, and all of them, from what Eva knew about the odd child, were probably on electric-types.

Daisy's gaze followed hers and the woman's face settled into something neutral and unreadable. "Shin's here and he has a _thing_ about flame-class right now."

"Oh." It was a lame reply and Eva knew it even as she swallowed the pity she wanted to give and it settled like a stone in her stomach. Having to deal with such a child, even one's own cousin, would have anyone feeling chatty after a day of babysitting. "I thought it was bug?"

Daisy shook her head. "Not anymore. So," she started as she leant against the door frame, attention on her, but Eva knew it was also on Shin. Not that the boy would ever notice anything outside his blocks. A cyclone on the Empress Tide could pull in an adult gyarados and he still wouldn't notice. Daisy stared at her younger cousin for a beat or two more before she huffed and smiled, attention now solely on Eva. "Do you know what your mum's gotten you yet?"

"Not yet, and she's avoiding the topic like it's toxic!" Eva's shoulders sagged and hands fisted against her skirt as the ground suddenly became that much more interesting. "Everyone _else_ knows though. Eripi's getting a shiny ībui-"

"From the Motora farm." It wasn't even a question; both ladies knew all respectable eevee, shiny or no, came from them.

Eva nodded. "It was cheap-"

"Never a good sign," Daisy muttered against her mug. Eva frowned but before she could ask what was so bad about a cheap shiny, Daisy continued. "Moving on though-"

"So, Yu-chan's getting a pikachū- but she _technically_ has it now, because their raichū had pups two months ago-"

"I remember that night," Daisy started, only for Eva to interrupt.

"You do?"

"Hm. They called grandpa out to spay it soon after."

"He was?" Eva cocked her head in confusion. "But, why him and not some other vet in town?"

"It's to do with being a League Professor."

Like that was any explanation. "Huh?"

"Right, you wouldn't have covered that in school," Daisy grinned from behind her mug at Eva's glare. "You know the Kantō League typically only has one at any one time, correct? And a bunch of others like that but without fancy titles?" Eva nodded; it was one of the first things they learned about the League-side of the government. Lots of professors but only one fancy title. Daisy continued. "Gramps was called because he has experience in spaying raichū and sometimes works with the vets out here. But, back to what you were saying."

"No wonder he's so busy," Eva shook her head, dispelled the idea there was something more to it (not her problem, anyway), and took a breath before she continued. "Anyway, on top of all that, Tomiyoto-san _and_ Higazu-chan are getting something from the Program and-"

"So's Satoru," Daisy whispered. "But that's just your class, isn't it? Not the whole school." At her nod, Daisy continued. "I know there's always a few like you who won't know until tomorrow."

"Sure! As if! Arika's getting a shiny too, but she's not told anyone what it is, and Tomas-kun is getting a _miniryū_-"

Daisy's eyebrows shot up at the mention of a dratini as a Starter."Oh _really_ now?"

"Yes! How come he gets _that_?! He's not - Not from a dragon clan!" Eva was more than a little ashamed to say it felt good to vent to someone not family. To someone who was just as incredulous that anyone _not_ dragon-clan or stupid rich would get a dratini of all things for a Starter. It wasn't that her family didn't understand, but they didn't get out much it hurt and felt like she, out of _all _the kids in her class starting tomorrow, was the only one without a Starter lined up. That she was without and a classmate was getting a _dragon_-type. "I- It's _not fair_!"

"I don't think he's really getting that and it'll be fine."

"No, it won't!" She didn't quite stomp her foot, but it was near enough.

"_It will_, trust me, Eva-san. Tomas-kun _won't_ have a miniryū and your mum's probably ordered you something from Shin'ō or Jōto and wants to surprise you."

"Like a hanekko or-or a cherinbo?" Eva's eyes lit up, never mind how much she doubted it was true, or harder it was to train up a hoppip than a cherubi. It could be done, of course. Comp-training, good feed, and lots of sunlight made a world of difference. In many respects, it was like the oddish or bellsprout lines, but far more work, though less work than shroomish.

"Exactly," Daisy said firmly. "You'll have a Starter, too. Everyone _always_ does."

"Yea, I guess," Eva said, uncertain for all of three seconds before she shook her head. Daisy was right. She would get a Starter and she would start the journey tomorrow. But, as good as it felt to vent, as if a weight had been lifted somewhat, venting wasn't the real reason she'd come here. "So, you seen your grandfather at all? Dad said he wanted to talk to me about something this arvo."

Daisy took a sip of tea with a thoughtful hum as she tapped a finger against the side of the mug. "Did you check the lab?"

"It's how I know Satoru's there!" Eva huffed, face contorted with dislike and annoyance towards the one who'd popularised her stupid nickname. Just because she liked leaves and vines and grass-types... "It's not like another day'll hurt when he _knows_ he qualified!"

Because of course he would. Children and grandchildren of League Professors, and those of Gym Leaders and the Elite and even Champion, automatically qualified.

"Have you ever known him to wait?"

"Nope," Eva shook her head with a snort. "Not even in school. Especially this year."

"At least he has you to check him," Daisy said and, looking back, Eva would come to understand the woman had hidden a smile. That she'd already known they'd be bitter Rivals. "But, did you look thoroughly or get into a fight with my brother?"

Eva knew her guilty face said it all.

Daisy sighed. "Go back and ask one of the aides."

"Fine. Not my fault if I punch Satoru, though." Not after what he'd said the _first_ time.

"We _don't_ hit boys," Daisy said with a raised eyebrow. "No matter how much they may deserve it."

"Yes, Nanami-san." It was petulant, and she knew it. But it was easy to hit a boy, to push him if he annoyed you or said something stupid. "I won't hit him. But I can still call him names, right?"

The _Look_ Daisy shot her made Eva wish the ground would open up and eat her. It wasn't on the same level as one from her mum, though. But it was close. "You're better than him. And, Eva-chan?"

"Yes?" She asked hesitantly, shoulders half hunched in fear of more reprimands.

"Good luck!"

"Uh, thanks," Eva stuttered out before she bowed and quickly left to make her way to the Laboratory.

"Now scoot, I need to wrangle Shin into helping for dinner before grandma shows up."

"Good luck," Eva said before she bowed and quickly left to make her way to the Laboratory, not thinking much of it. Visitors and grandparents from all over had come to Pallet, and Agatha had come as well this morning. To oversee of course, because every town or city had an Elite visit for Journey Start at least once every decade.

**-/-/-/-/-**

The click of the main door seemed to fill the space, like an ominous prelude to a storm or earthquake that only Eva noticed as a bolt of dislike shot up her spine. Brown eyes locked on the distant form of Satoru, perched on a desk and head in his phone. There was no storm though, and lab assistants barely looked up when she entered. Why should they, when they had books to file and wrote out complicated equations to write out on whiteboards? One even fussed over what looked like some sort of holographic projector shaped like a porygon.

If she'd been an Oak, would they have greeted her? Probably.

Yes.

Her steps seemed just as loud and ominous and Eva felt small, even as fond memories wormed into her mind. Over there, on the left, the class had sat and listened to Oak as he talked about the Starter Program. Then after that, Oak had introduced the Starter-lines from Kanto and she'd fallen in love with the 'saur-line's leafy visage.

It'd been three years ago when they'd been in grade five and she'd known then what her Starter would be. What she'd train as a pokemon trainer. She'd become a flora-class expert, maybe even discover new species of them and join the ranks of those who had.

But, that wasn't enough to soothe her (she wished it was, it'd make being back at the lab that much easier) and with a huff, the teenager crossed the space that doubled as both foyer, office, and gateway to other, closed off parts of the massive laboratory. Satoru had his head in his phone -no his pokegear. If she was careful, she could get to an aide before the brat noticed her.

"Yo! Leaf!" Or, he could dash her hopes.

Eva stared wide-eyed at the older teenager, who snapped off a two-fingered salute with a wide, confident grin. "Gramps ain't here, just like the last time you checked. Or you back for round two?"

"Because it's not tomorrow," Eva shot back, hands balled as she stared at Pallet's biggest, most persistent pain her arse known as Satoru Oak. As popular as he was, she was certain it was more because of his family name than any redeeming personality traits. Not that he had any, of course. He was arrogant and brash and he'd got not only most of _his_ class, but some of _hers_ as well to call her 'Leaf' these last few years. "You know you don't get to pick-"

"_I do too_. Gramps _said_ I would!" The boy shot back, hands balled at his side. His head whipped around as a side door's knob turned with a click -was it an aide, here to kick them out if they started a fight?- and the dark-haired boy very quickly jumped off the table with a glare at Eva, as if daring her to say anything. Eva rolled her eyes. Like sitting on a table in Professor Oak's presence was some great crime. "Oi! Gramps! It's about time!"

"I've half a mind to send you home, Satoru," the professor said tiredly. "But yes, you will get to pick today, as will Eva-chan."

"What?" She couldn't have heard right. There was no way she was getting a pokemon from the Starter Program. "T-Today?"

"What? No way! I want it now!" Satoru growled. "You said-"

"I, your mother, your grandmother-"

Eva knew her eyes widened.

"-and your father, have agreed that you pick today and set off tomorrow," Oak said firmly.

"She's only saying that because she's an Elite."

"No," Oak said, and Eva had to fight not to gape, mind still stuck on the fact Agatha of the Elite Four was Satoru's grandmother. Neither Oak nor Satoru seemed to notice. "Unless you'd rather yours last tomorrow?"

She knew the Oaks were private, but this bordered on ridiculousness.

"I- No, of course not," Satoru griped, arms crossed and face worthy of an electabuzz. "Don't look so shocked, Leaf."

"I-" Would this explain why Agatha visited the Oaks at least once a month? "K-Ki-Kikuko-san...?" Maybe they were divorced. That had to be it, especially if he didn't have her surname.

"I think you broke her," Satoru grumbled and Eva's face flushed red in anger.

"I... I didn't apply for the Program, an-and mum said she'd lined my Starter up already," Eva said slowly as she tried to force her brain away from Oak family relations. The Starter Program was a good topic and she knew she could have applied like everyone else. Officially, it was supposed to be an even spread of young trainers from around Kanto, but everyone knew it wasn't. That how many from each town or city were chosen was luck-based and only the children of Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, and the Champion were were _guaranteed_ a spot. As were the direct relatives or grandchildren of League Professors, such as Oak, and those who managed to buy their way in via an outrageous amount of money.

Eva was none of them, even if her father claimed his mother was a cousin of Bruno's father. But in the light of Satoru 'Blue' Oak being a grandson of _Agatha_, her own hypothetical relation to an Elite was silly. Stupid.

Professor Oak smiled slightly. "Your mother and I spoke-"

Eva stared at the Professor, eyes wide. Was this why her mum had avoided the topic? Because she didn't want to spoil the surprise? But how-

She was no-one. Agatha wouldn't-

"_Of course_ you're getting one," Satoru interrupted and Eva wanted to punch his smug, smirking face. "Like I'd let _my rival_ start with some stupid bellsprout or something!"

"What's wrong with that?!" Eva snapped back to reality with a snarl, eyes narrowed. Someone had to defend the bellsprout line from the brat known as Satoru. Never mind he'd all but confirmed she was his rival.

"Everyone knows a fushigibana outclasses utsubotto any day!"

"So what? That's stats only!" She'd seen a venasaur fall to a victreebel. It hadn't been pretty, though; victreebel were vicious and mean and they fought dirty. Venasaur was too, but not to that level.

"_You're my rival_! That's what, Leaf-_chan_," Satoru shot back, twisting the honorific into something crass and ruder than rude. Eva stared. Technically, this was an abuse of the system. But the surrounding laws were also vague and so a kid guaranteed a spot could pick another to be their rival, ensuring they also had a Starter Program monster. Was _this_ why she was getting one?

_Because of his ego_? She wasn't the only kid who'd competed with him when and were they could over the years. Brown eyes narrowed and Satoru's smirk said it all: it was because of his overinflated ego. "Go and take your fushigidane!"

She paused. There was something about the way he said it, like he was so sure he knew her. Knew what she'd take, as if he'd built a whole plan around it. She wanted the bulbasaur with all her heart. She'd built her team around it and decided on the pokemon she'd have that complemented it. The pokemon was a powerhouse with Special moves and everyone who followed the high-level battles and show-matches had seen the footage of Erika's beast of a venasaur. Kadō had been likened to a living, breathing canon and was no slouch in the speed department either, and in the show match between Erika and Blaine, it'd taken down the magmortar in a brutal, hours long fight.

Eva wanted such a pokemon. It was something that would be _epic_ and _awesome_. That they were easy enough to raise helped, too.

She must have hesitated too long for Satoru's liking. "What? It's the middle one, _stupid_."

Hands fisted and one look at the smug boy beside her was enough for Eva. He _wouldn't_ be letting her go first if he didn't have a plan. If she wanted a chance to withstand the plan, she needed a _tank_, not a canon. "_I know_."

At the nod from the Professor, she walked up to the desk, eyed the red-white balls, smiled...

Then took one with a flourish. "I'll take _this _one."

"What!? You _stinker_!"

She merely smiled. She liked her choice; it was a good one even if it wasn't what she really wanted. But she refused to play into his hands; she wasn't some weak-willed woman unable to stand up to some stupid bossy boy.

"Fine! I'll take this one!" Satoru hissed as he snatched up his pokemon with a thunderous expression. "It looks stronger than yours, anyway."

Eva snorted. "Oh yeah?"

"I'll prove it!" Satoru's smirk was pure malice as he thrust the 'ball out in clear challenge. "Let's battle!"

"_Not_ until tomorrow," Oak admonished before the pair could let either pokemon out. "I understand you're eager, both of you, but _tomorrow_. If I may have the pokemon?"

She was smart enough to read between the lines: They'd gotten to pick and that was _all_. Everything else would happen tomorrow. She huffed a little, but handed hers over without complaint, then glared daggers at her rival until he did too.

"Now, I'll see you at 10 am tomorrow at the school," Oak said as he tucked the pokeballs into his lab coat. "And, Satoru, Daisy would like you home _before_ your mother and aunt, as your granny and I'll be joining the family for dinner."

"Yeah, yeah. Smell ya later, Leaf," Satoru waved his hand as he headed out, shoulders hunched. But no. That was her imagination- it had to be.

She made to go, to follow him, only for Oak to stop her. "Don't hold it against your mother."

Eva nodded, mind too full to truly think outside the fact Daisy had been right: her mum had wanted to surprise her. "This is real, isn't it? He... Satoru- No, Blue..." Her nose wrinkled, but she pushed on. "We're- officially Rivals now?"

Oak nodded. "He also set your Trainer Card."

"He _what_?" Eva's voice was small, and at Oak's nod, what remained of her plans, no, the world, fell from under her. No, no, _no_... "He- how- because I'm his Rival-?"

"I'm afraid so." Oak nodded sadly, and distantly, Eva was aware Satoru had done this behind the backs of the adults in their lives. Had managed it because of the Oak name. Maybe because he was Agatha's grandson. "But in a year you'll be able to change it."

She heard the words, but they sounded distant and faint, as did the (her) stammered goodbyes as she left the Lab and walked, aimless and uncaring. A year until she could change it was a very, very long time. It was forever and ever, and she loathed it already. She'd be known as 'Leaf' for a year. No, it would be an eternity of people knowing her by that stupid, stupid nickname.

Hands fisted as tears blurred her eyes and shoulders shook as she tried not to cry. It was just a stupid nickname thrust onto her by some stupid, worthless _boy_ that wasn't worth her time.

Then _why _did she care so much?

-/-_Translator's notes._-/-  
Kazoku: Lit. "Magnificent/Exalted lineage". The hereditary peerage system in use throughout Yamatai and parts of the Sevii Islands, originally part of a wider, more complicated, nobility (still in use in Fiore, Almia, Holon, and Hoenn). The oldest families can trace lineage back to when Empress Jito unified Yamatai, and today it's common for the women, rarely men, of these families to hold positions of power throughout society.


	3. Pallet: Part Two

Long update is long- 7k words.

That said, I hope you're all staying safe and well during this pandemic. Of note is that there are some Japanese terms used outside honorifics, however, Yamatan is not one-to-one with Japanese.

* * *

**-/- Pallet: Part Two -/-**  
_Transcript from the ONBS' interview, published in the Orren Times._

\- - - -_  
__"You ask me, knowing what I do now, if I'd take the chance to do it all again?"  
_\- - - -

"Gods of the Four," Eva breathed as she and Erin 'Eripi' Sakuran closed in on the noisy, excited crowd of teenagers gathered on the oval's edge, hearts in mouths as they awaited the start of the millennia-old ritual known as the '_Rannari-Giita'_. It seemed everyone and their monster in Pallet had turned out to celebrate the Departure with them, for even the sky was peppered with fliers, though how many of them were lookouts, Eva didn't know.

She didn't particularly care, either.

The only place pokemon-free was the mob of young teenagers, but parents and monsters of all types ringed them on the off chance anything could happen. It shouldn't, but one never knew, and it was far safer to be ready to fight than end up caught in a flat-footed scramble. "Can you believe this?"

"No," Eripi said with a small shake of her head. "You?"

"Of course not," Eva laughed as they came to a stop within the general hub-bub zone some several metres away from the small stage that had been erected seemingly overnight. People milled about on it, but outside of Professor Oak, Agatha of the Elite Four, and the principal of Pallet Primary School, Eva couldn't tell you who everyone else was.

She did also spy what looked to be a cameraperson with a camera and several rotomi -rotom phones- around her.

It didn't matter that much, and as more and more of the cohort joined, the skin-prickling buzz grew into a heady, dizzyingly intoxicating mix. Eva's heart skipped a beat as her hands twitched towards the belt that'd soon hold her Starter's pokeball, paused as figures brushed the platinum belt buckle and felt the groves of the leaf it'd been styled into and then soared as she remembered to breathe.

_Soon._

Soon she'd be a trainer and her mouth tingled as if she'd been shocked and she loved it.

Nothing could ever match it and nothing ever would.

Though, she wasn't sure how Eripi remained so calm and serene amongst the excitement, not when Eva herself near hopped from foot to foot with a grin fit to split her face. Maybe it was because the other woman was more reserved than she'd ever be. Or maybe it was because Erin's mother was rumoured to have family in the Orange Islands, and everyone knew _those_ folk were _weird_. "We're going to be _trainers_ soon!"

"I know, and by the Sky-Lords, you'd think we've all the cohort here," Eripi breathed out as she stood tip-toed, like some lookout of a sentret on its tail. "I think we've got maybe fifty confirmed-?"

"At least that, yeah," Eva said with a nod- they'd get the actual number from the news in a day or two, but for now, the guesstimate worked as she looked around and took everything in. Arika stood off to the side with several of their class, but her eye was drawn to twin shocks of blond that stood out amongst a small knot of people, most of whom were from Satoru's grade.

The blonde hair belonged to the Kuchinaji twins Ayame and Sakura; town rumour claimed them as coming from mountain stock, but Eva doubted it. The twins looked as Kantan as they came, though they weren't the only blondes in town.

They were, however, the only blondes in the gaggle of teenagers.

Bloodlines or not, they practically hogged Satoru as he lapped up the attention of classmates with grand gestures and no doubt bigger boastings. Brown eyes narrowed with a distasteful scowl, but she yanked her gaze away with a snort. She'd have time to put the boy back in his place when they battled soon enough.

"Oh..." Eripi deflated and Eva could have kicked herself. Several of Eripi's friends in other classes weren't graduating with them.

"Hey, you are starting. Your mum wouldn't pull you out now. Not when she got you that ībui."

Eripi giggled nervously as she scratched her neck with a small shrug. "She's done it before with these kind of things..."

Eva's mouth thinned, and she shook her head. "Not this time she wouldn't. Plus, we're travelling together, right?"

Only child from a difficult pregnancy or not, Erin was of legal age to travel and no overbearing mother would stop that. Not now. Not unless Ms Sakuran wanted to be a social pariah for the rest of her life, all because she'd changed her mind at the last second.

"Yeah," Eripi nodded, smile weak and shoulders drawn upwards until they brushed against the ends of pigtail plaits. "A-At least to Tokiwa, right?"

"Well, yeah," Eva said with a smirk. "I want to see the famous Chilli House,-"she ignored Eripi's face scrunch; there was nothing wrong with chilli! "-and the city'll be super green this time of year, and you wanted to see the Tatsushigo Falls, right?"

"Yeah!" Erin nodded again, this time with a smile more real than show and Eva considered it a success. "Maybe see if I might find a teiru?"

"We can stop by it on the way if you want?" It wasn't like she'd be in a hurry and what good was a Journey if they didn't explore everything? And, anyway, Eripi deserved it, more so if she _could_ find a teiru.

"Really?" At Eva's nod, the dark-haired teenager's face practically lit up to the point Eva wondered if her friend wasn't about to spontaneously combust out of sheer happiness. Or whip out a picture of the 'aipom cousin'. Or both. Probably both, knowing Eripi. "A-Anyway, this is better than last year. We had maybe thirty-"

"Forty," Eva corrected. She'd counted _and_ the Masara Kaiyun had listed the names of all new trainers who'd started, though she'd heard of at least one death in the group through the rumour mill. Not something she really wanted to think on.

"-last year." Eripi finished as if Eva hadn't said anything. "So- This is happening!"

"Yeah," Eva nodded as she shoved those thoughts out of her head. Death, as upsetting as it was, was a reality they all knew well. Plus, anyone who went looking for teddiursa in late spring was asking to be clobbered by an ursaring. "It's really happening."

They'd soon be trainers.

Her Starter's 'ball would soon hang on her belt- though she would admit to being a little jealous of those who already had a 'ball on the belt, never mind she could have taken one with her. Maybe it was romantic, but she wanted to assemble her own team, not take one from her parents that'd been pre-trained and then kept in storage for years and years.

"So, have you found out what your mum got you yet?" Eripi asked, hand going to where her eevee's 'ball would sit soon enough, and Eva's grin turned impish. "Well? What is it?"

"Nope. You gotta wait," Eva said with a finger wag and a laugh. Just because she could tell Eripi anything in the world didn't mean she had to.

"That's not fair! You know what mine is!" Eripi whined, nose crinkled and eyes wide.

"Because you bragged," Eva laughed.

"Nothing wrong with that when mother actually..." Erin huffed. "So, spill."

"I want it to be a surprise," Eva admitted, eyes once again tracking to where Satoru stood with the twins, arm slung over the oldest's shoulder in a way suggestive of near-hanging off of her. Hands fisted as she glowered, breaths shallow as tears pricked her eyes. Why, she didn't know. He was little more than a stupid rich boy who'd be partnered off as soon as he was of age.

_So, why is it bothering me?!_

"Does it... Does it have to do with Ōkido-kun?" Eripi ventured and Eva's head whipped around with a startled blink.

"What?!" Had she voiced the thought out loud?

"Y-You're glaring in his direction and you look, um, sullen. Like mother does every time He's brought up..."

"...Maybe?" Eva shot back, as if that would make whatever this was go away. The talk with her parents hadn't, nor had forcibly repacking her bag several times. It, and a good night's sleep, had found no answers.

She hated it and she hated she'd caused Eripi to flinch like that. Opps. "Ah- Sorry, sorry. Yeah... it does."

"Ah-! Just-just ignore him then. He'll be put in his place soon enough!" Eripi said, hands on waist and face serious, as if she hadn't flinched at all, and, by the slight waver and hitch to her voice, Eva knew it was more mask than any genuine feeling. "All boys are, y-you know that."

Eva lightly 'humphed' and tore her eyes away from the Oak boy. If Eripi wanted to act like nothing had happened, then who was she to deny the older teen. "Especially loudmouthed bossy boys like him!" She stuck her nose in the air. "You think he's betrothed yet?"

Green eyes blinked at the abrupt change of topic. "Huh? Shouldn't you know?"

"I'm not that close friends with Nanami-san!" Eva protested with a wave of a hand.

"W-Well... Maybe? He is rich, right?" Eripi ventured as hands twisted at the hem of her shirt.

"Of course he is. He's an Ōkido," Eva snapped with an eye roll. "But if he was betrothed, he'd be crowing about it and not hanging off the ladies like some stupid slut."

"Eva!" Eripi scolded, though Eva was certain her friend was thinking the same thing: only sluts hung off a lady.

"What? It's _true_!"

"That doesn't mean you need to voice it!" Erin hissed, eyes darting around as she checked to make sure somebody hadn't overheard them. True or not, Satoru was an Oak. "What if someone heard you?"

"Still true," Eva grumbled in a sulk, hands shoved into her jacket's pockets in a vain attempt to keep her eyes off the boy in question when she had far more important things to worry about other than her friend's scolding. Namely the fact she still hadn't figured out a good name for her Starter outside 'Tanknator'.

"Eva..." Erin's mouth thinned. "What's this about?"

"S-Sorry..." It was half-hearted and unbidden, her gaze again tracked to Satoru, though, at least he'd stopped hanging off Ayame. Stupid boys; just because he was rich didn't mean he was exempt from behaving himself. He wasn't betrothed to Ayame, for one. "I-"

"That look I know." Eva literally jumped as Kate appeared out of nowhere and slung an arm around her shoulders, a grin all but plastered across the brunette's face. Hazel eyes shone with mirth behind glasses.

"You're no a ghost so bell yourself!" She said in an attempt to calm her racing heart and squash the desire to shove the older teenager away.

"Sorry~. Habit," Kate laughed and Eva didn't have to guess as to what Starter the Unovan would end up with. Not with what was already in the 'ball on her belt. "So, what is that look for?"

"What look?" Eva snapped instead, vaguely aware Eripi had backed up a few steps and ok, the earlier snap had hurt her friend more than she'd let on.

"Dark, sullen, and daggered glare at Blue," Kate nodded towards where the Oak boy stood, still very much in the middle of a small knot of teenagers, though thankfully it seemed the twins had retreated. "So, spill. What is bugging you, Eva?"

"Your grammar's got better," she said as she wriggled out from under the Unovan's arm. "But you missed the honorifics."

Like she often did and honestly, if Eva didn't like the Unovan, she'd have thought it rudely on purpose.

"Ah... Ma's teaching me," Kate confirmed with a half shrug. "You's know how it is. But that don't answer the question, Eva-chan."

"Yeah! What's going on, Eva?" Eripi piped up, as if to drive home Eva's guilt over snapping at her friends.

"Uh... You know how they call our names, right?" Eva started only to pause as Kate cursed up a storm, though the only word she knew was 'zekrom', the major god Kate followed. Everything else was guesswork, but she could assume it was several unpleasant things related to the lineage of the announcers or at least Satoru. Eripi's thunderous face might as well have been a storm cloud of dark intent, and Eva knew the only thing stopping the Sakuran woman from storming over and slapping Satoru was that ladies did not hit boys. It just wasn't done.

With one final, nasty sounding curse, the Unovan in the group fixed her attention on Eva. "He didn't...?"

Eva nodded, hands half balled against the fabric of her jacket. "It's a year's wait to change it!"

"But, you can go to-" Eripi started, only for the teenager in question to cut her off with a sharp snort and headshake.

"I can't," Eva huffed out with a thunderous scowl. "Not if I wanna shove him in his place and I _need_ to be here to do it, not traipsing around Jōto. Which I don't wanna travel anyway, 'cause it can't offer nearly as much to squizz and stickybeak at as Kantō can!"

Kate's eyes unfocused slightly as she cocked her head in thought. Eva winced but didn't offer to rephrase what she'd said. Living in Kanto for less than a year or not, Kate thoroughly hated anyone who treated her like the toddler she was when it came to the Yamatan language. Finally, Kate spoke. "_Kampkompis_?"

"Kanpu... konpisu?" Eva repeated slowly, brows furrowed in thought as she tried and failed to place the Unovan word. "What does _that_ mean?"

"I... I do not know the word in Yamatan," Kate said as she scratched the back of her neck. "It is meaning: 'Is to officially compete with a person in a official race of the mastery of the field you are both in'?"

Eva felt her eyes roll back into her skull as she tried to figure out what Kate meant. Maybe it made sense in the guttural, harsh language that was Unovan, but not in Yamatan. "Uh-"

"What she means is 'Official Rivals'," Erin said firmly.

Eva's eyes widened, and when Erin nodded, she squinted at Kate." Y- _Official_...?"

Wait, what?

"_Ja_, if that is the word," Kate shrugged awkwardly but forged on ahead anyway. "Everyone know you compete and don't get on."

"It's not just me! Most of the girls in the two grades compete with him, too!" Eva shot back as she hastily waved her hands in front of her face to add weight to the denial.

"_Ja_," Kate said with a blink, while Eripi frowned, hands once again on hips and face puffed up as she rattled off a: "You're the only one that's done it since-"

"He's a _boy_," Eva hissed as if that explained it all. "Of course I'd compete with him."

"And?" Kate asked with a dubious look. "Boys are as good as ladies."

Eva all but threw her hands in the air as she stared at the Unovan. "Cultural! Yamatan boys aren't supposed to be that bossy or loud or opinionated!"

"Yeah! There's a time and place for opinions, but he does it all the time!" Eripi chimed in. "It's really rude and crass. He'll never get the interest of a partner like that!"

"Anyway," Eva said before Kate could get a word in about the boys of Unova; it wasn't relevant, and Eva plain didn't care. "I'm not the only one who competes with him, so why would he make _me_ an Official Rival?"

"Maybe because you _compete_, E-chan," Eripi said with Look that killed any protests Eva might have had. "A-Anyway, it doesn't matter. I know you! You'll put him in his place and then make sure he regrets his choice, right?!"

"Well, yeah, of course I will." It was the done thing with stupid boys, especially rich ones with ambitions greater than they should have, and that's all that mattered in the end. A Career Trainer wasn't something rich boys should ever aspire towards. "Aww, whatever. Let's get closer to the stage so we don't miss any of the battles once the non-rivals are over."

"_Ja_!" Kate nodded, grabbed their hands and dragged them closer towards the stage, the pair following readily enough as they pushed their way past a throng of boys and ignored the '_oi_! 's and offended looks that came after. If they didn't want to be pushed past, then they should have moved out of the way.

It was as simple as that and Eva never looked back.

**-/-/-/-/-**

"-And our next Official Rival pair is Ōkido 'Blue' Satoru-kun and Iden'no 'Leaf' Eva-chan," the announcer called once the Kuchinaji twins and their Rivals had vacated the stage. "If you'd both please make your way to the stage-"

The applause and cheers were thunderous, yet but also lightning that lanced her soul and dulled her smile, and Eva knew she shouldn't, but the Mirages snatch him up to the realm of the Sky.

Satoru was nothing if not a menace. Someone who'd always got his way, and each step towards the stage was measured and mechanical as Eva wished she could kill her 'Official Rival' then and there.

She couldn't, and so, as she approached the stage, her face was the height of summer as both suns beat down on it, while her jaw hurt as teeth ground against each other. Hands had fisted against the red of her skirt and ached with knuckles bleached white. And, as if to make it worse, her shoes thudded against the wooden steps with dull finality.

As if the Gods and Fate laughed at her.

It was stupid to let the nickname get to her when she should revel in the cheers and applause. She was one of the top students in the class and well-liked at that.

Yet...

Yet it was hard not to when said boy literally lept up onto the stage and waved to the (scandalised, no doubt) crowd with a mocking bow as an afterthought. The cock-sure smirk was but another sign that pointed to a boy who revelled in pushed limits and the stage-light.

A boy who's family had let him run wild. Even Shin, as odd as he was, never ran wild.

Eva's gut twisted, and her nose wrinkled briefly. She'd have to see to it Satoru was put in his place. Her foot hit the wooden stage and she huffed silently as the other foot joined it. Yes, she'd make sure this arrogant snot of a boy knew his place. Another huff and the young woman squared her shoulders and lifted her head as she strode forth. The psychic-based barrier passed over her and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, but she paid it no mind, eyes firmly on her Rival.

His time would come. She'd_ make sure of it._

"Yo, Leaf!" Satoru greeted her as she came to a stop several feet away in the centre of the stage, the bow he gave was but a dip of the head than anything. Eva's eyes narrowed; from the slight upturn of his mouth, he knew exactly the level of rudeness he'd got away with. "It's an honour to be your Rival."

"Satoru," she greeted levelly and without heat (though how she managed it, she'd _never_ know) with as shallow of a bow as she could get away with in public towards one of the Oaks. She took the time to centre herself with few calming breaths and exhaled low and slow as she straightened and a strand of hair tucked behind an ear as she spoke; maybe she should have tied it back, but no matter. "It's an honour to be your Rival."

Honour her arse, but what was done was done, and all she needed to do now was make sure he was put in his place, be it here or on their Journey.

"And honour to those who preside over us. Shiten'nō Akiya Kikuko-sama, who will give us our gosa'ke," the boy said with a deep bow to towards his grandmother.

"_Hai_. Honour to Ōkido-Dou'kase who will give us the z'kan," Eva said, proud she didn't stumble over the traditional words as she bowed to the League Professor.

"You may now claim your pokemon," the announcer said, and Agatha stepped forward into the space between them, a red-and-white pokeball in each hand. Eva took hers with only the smallest of trembles and all the reverence it was due.

"Thank you, Akiya-sama," she said with a low bow.

"It is an honour, child," Agatha said and Eva was certain there was a hint of approval hidden in the words somewhere, even as she shot her rival a dirty look out of the corner of her eye when he all but snatched his up. That was more than rude- it was plain disrespectful to the pokemon -the one partner they'd always have- that marked the end of childhood and the start of Trainerhood-

"One should treat their Starter with more respect, _boya_," Agatha hissed, low enough the in-built stage mics wouldn't pick it up, but loud enough for it to be heard by both of them. Eva didn't bother to squash the vicious spike of glee at Satoru's flinch; it was his own fault for being rude around her.

"_Hai_, Granny," Satoru mumbled, and that seemed enough for Agatha, given the sharp nod and rap of the walking stick against the ground.

"I wish you both luck on the Journey. May the Spirits and the Mirages watch over and guide you to victory in the battles you face," the woman said as she produced two black and blue brocaded _omamori_ from her pocket.

"May the Fox never have reason to laugh at us," both trainers responded as they took the luck-charms and looped them around their necks, Eva's thumb brushing against the embroidered, silver arrow of success before her hand dropped. Agatha nodded once then backed off, and Oak took her place.

"Your pokedexes," Oak said and Eva noted he used the more familiar word for the machine as he held them out, one in each hand.

"Thank you very much," she said as they both took the bright metallic-red devices with a small bow, and the Professor returned to his place by Agatha's side.

"Yeah, thanks, Gramps," Satoru said as he tucked his 'dex into a back pocket before he turned to Eva and next thing she knew, her Rival had thrust his pokeball out, sharp glint in dark eyes and a wide, face splitting smirk to match it. "Heh! Let's have that battle now, huh?"

It was why the psychic barrier was in place after all. Part of the reason, at least.

"You're on!" She shot back, unwilling to miss a beat as she backed up a good dozen steps with a grin. For all they were Rookies and wouldn't be flinging attacks around, a battle was a battle and she _would_ be the one to put him back in his place: beneath her, like all good boys were. "Ready to lose?"

"Ha! You wish!" Satoru retorted as he also backed back, and, once at an appropriate distance, tossed the pokeball onto the field with an underhanded gesture. "Momo!"

_Peach? Really? Such a boy. Heh. No matter._

"Tanknator!" she called at the same time, her toss overhand and for a long few seconds, the 'balls gleamed under the twin suns of spring before they hit the ground and both pokemon emerged in flashes of light and sound.

Eva caught her' ball on the rebound, while Satoru snatched his out of the air with well-practised ease. Later, when she replayed the battle in her mind, she'd know that had been the first clue.

But hindsight is twenty-twenty and her teeth ground against each other as she struggled not to scowl at the boy. Stupid show off. Just because it was the done thing to toss a pokeball out in a street or arena battle didn't mean he had to show off as well.

"Jealous, Leaf?" Satoru laughed as he spun the 'ball on his finger while his bulbasaur -scale-skin a lovely new-green and bulb vibrant and plump- blinked bright eyes at Tanknator. "Mine looks stronger than your weakling!"

"You'd have said that anyway!" She shot back, hands tightening around the metal 'ball even as she hooked it back onto her belt with a wide grin. Her pulse picked up as she pulled herself up to her full height and her chest swelled as she lifted her head. Her pokemon, her small, blue turtle, was just as good as his. No. Better.

Time seemed to slow to an agonising crawl as the ghost of a smirk played across her face.

But it was fitting, was it not? It was time to show the world she was a trainer, to take that first, official step into a world she'd dreamed of since she'd first battled with her mother's golem out in the fields as a child under the watchful eye of her parents.

"Ha! That's because I know a winner when I see it!" Satoru shot back with a maddening grin and cocky swagger in his stance.

"Yeah, right!" Eva snorted with a wave of her hand. Sure, she didn't have a grass-type beside her, but that meant nothing. She could, would do this. Easily. Satoru was nothing more than a stupid boy with dreams of grandeur above his station in the world and she'd show him that.

And, he'd stolen her original choice from her. She _had_ to make him pay for that.

She flung her hand out with a sharp: "Tackle!", while on the other side of the field, Satoru jabbed a finger out, his own command: "Growl!"

And just like that, the world fell away to the rush of her first battle as a trainer as they barked out command after command.

Oh, she'd battled before, but not like this. Not with her own pokemon and it was different, the way time crawled by now, how she could see it all as she battled. It was an eternity where nothing else mattered but the field, the fight, and the adrenaline that crashed through her veins and sped up the heart rate until it was only this moment, this space and time where the world was reduced to a single pokemon battle.

She watched as the bulbasaur let out an impressively low growl and her tiny turtle faltered and glowed briefly -they still didn't know exactly _why_ that happened, only that it did-, before it slammed into the saurian with a grunt and pushed it -her- back a good half metre.

Satoru snorted and shook his head with a smirk and for a second or two, Eva felt sorry for Momo. But then it was gone; the bulbasaur wasn't her pokemon and this was a battle. She wasn't allowed to go easy on her just because she felt sorry for hurting the lovely grass-type. "Absorb!"

"Tackle!" Eva called out in a vain hope that maybe her pokemon would be faster than the glowing vine. But, the next thing she knew, a high-pitched whine of pain signalled the turtle hadn't avoided the hit and now looked like she'd taken a rather rough tumble and landed on her carapace (she hadn't, course), while Momo's scrapes seemed to have healed faster than they should have.

Eva couldn't help but be impressed, yet, no sooner had the vine vanished back into the bulb did Tanknator's Tackle land with a solid thump against skin and plant. The bulbasaur staggered back with a loud yowl and shake as it tried and failed to resettle the ragged-looking bulb.

"Ha!" Eva grinned, eyes wide with delight. That had been a critical hit, and had the pokemon not been pre-trained to fight, it would have turned tail and ran. She did feel sorry for it, but- she couldn't show mercy. "Looks like I picked the winner, Sa-to-ru~"

"Says you! Growl~!" The boy sneered, and again, the Growl came, and again Tanknator took on a faint glow as she faltered and her stance shifted into something more open and vulnerable. Eva scowled, but she knew her pokemon could handle whatever Momo threw her way.

"Now Tackle!" Satoru barked.

"Get in and Scratch it!" Eva shot back, the grin never once leaving her face as the ordered Scratch-attack connected, not even when the bulbasaur got into a tackle and her pokemon was forced back with a cry of pain. It was worth it. It was so worth it to put this stupid, arrogant boy in his place and for all Tanknator's stance seemed off, lowered defence was a small price to pay for victory.

"Tail Wag!"

"Growth!"

Eva winced. Wished she could change it to a Tackle. Too late now.

Her turtle dropped to all fours, wagged her tail and Momo took on a brief, faint glow for a second or two, even as it seemed to angle its bulb towards the larger of the two suns and root itself to the spot as it visibly glowed a red-ish green.

"Scratch! Take it down!" Eyes widened as urgency laced her voice and Eva swallowed hard, as if to erase that cold, unsettling feeling in her gut. No. She couldn't lose. Not when she knew what Growth was setting up for.

But how did he know? As far as she knew, he'd always decried the grass-type. So why-

No. Think on it later, when she'd won the battle And it would be a win, given how the grass-poison pokemon swayed on its feet, covered in cuts and scrapes as it dripped sap from the base of its bulb. Nothing a trip to the Pokecentre couldn't fix, but Eva knew it had to be painful.

Thank the gods for the stasis of pokeballs and quickheals like potions and Pokecentres.

"Again!" she barked only to realise too late Tanknator had been trained enough to obey, not understand what again could mean.

_Fuck-_

"Absorb!"

"Scratch-"

Eva's order came a fraction too late and the glowing vine entangled itself around the water-type. A pained whine later, the turtle staggered back several feet, wobbled with a shake of her head-

Eva recalled Tanknator in a beam of light before she hit the ground, gaze locked on the ground. Oak's voice was distant and faint as he declared Blue the winner. Even the crowd's cheers -wrong wrong _wrong!_\- seemed vague and foreign, as did his brag of how good he was.

She'd lost. She'd lost against a boy. Against a stupid, stinking, no good _boy._

Tears welled up and her face contorted as her head jerked up to pin a bitter, ugly glare on the arrogant twat. "You _cheated!"_

"As if! It's called battle tutor, stupid!" Satoru shot back but she didn't buy it.

He'd cheated. _Of course he'd cheated_-

"So you're too good to learn from your mum, is that it?" Eva hissed. She hated, no loathed, that grin. It was too prideful, too arrogant. Why'd he have to win and not her?!

"Of course I learned from her, too." the boy retorted before snorting as he recalled Momo -the Starter he shouldn't have, the one he'd _stolen_ from her. He didn't deserve such a majestic creature.

Hands fisted. "_You_-"

"Oi, Leaf! No-one likes a sore loser, so pay up."

"You..." Sore loser? Her? No... _No_. She wasn't. She was _better_ than him and she wouldn't make a spectacle of herself on the stage, even if it hurt to unclench hands, to hook Tanknator's 'ball onto her belt. To stand straight. "Fine!"

She didn't quite stomp to him, nor did she yank out her wallet or the five hundred yen note, and her bow most certainly wasn't verging on the edge of insulting as she didn't thrust-jab the cash at him. Her manners and wording were impeccable. "Thank you for the battle, Satoru."

She didn't twist his name into an insult. She was better than that. Really. She was thirteen, not some emotion riddled idiot.

"Heh, sure thing, Leaf-_chan_," he said with a wide, knowing grin and a victorious gleam in his eyes as he leaned into her space. It was only decorum that kept her from punching him. "I'll even beat you to the first badge."

"Oh?" She shot back, eyes hard, jaw aching and the tang of blood on her tongue. "As if!"

His only answer was a mocking, toothy grin as he straightened to his full height (two inches taller, _how dare_-), then turned and strode off towards where the rest of his family waited.

No doubt to brag like the arrogant twat of a prick he was and of course a cameraperson followed. He was an Oak.

She'd put him in the tiny pot he belonged, and with a spiteful glare at his retreating back, Eva turned on her heel, head high as she walked as gracefully as possible off the stage. She didn't quite run -it was more a fast walk in the direction of her parents and baby sister- once her feet hit the ground, but it was close.

She felt naked, as if she'd been on display and everything had gone wrong (it had), and try as she might, her head still dipped low and her cheeks burned. Turned flaming hot as she stumbled over nothing.

She could hear friends calling to her, but she couldn't answer them. Not now, not when all she wanted was to get her bag from her parents, heal her pokemon, and _go_. Leave Pallet and not look back. How could she when her heartbeat was but a faint, pale shadow of what it'd been during the battle and a sour, bile-like taste seemed to settle on her tongue.

She'd lost. She'd lost the first battle of her career against a boy, and each step seemed an effort as limbs weighed her down and tears clouded her vision.

All she wanted was her bag. She could heal at the 'Centre on the way out-

She couldn't breathe- her lungs felt as if fire while her vision swam and swayed-

"-sweetie?"

Eva blinked and wiped at bleary, tear clouded eyes with her free hand. When had she reached- When had she sort out a hug-? "_M- Mum_?"

"You did your best," Kazue said as she pet Eva's hair and Eva realised she'd sort out her family then collapsed next to her bag.

"Yeah!" Eripi added from where she crouched beside them, a grey-toned, not at all a shiny (Eva'd looked for the faint sparkle when the monster had first been revealed; she'd not seen any), eevee beside her. "It was a ripper of a battle."

"But I-" She'd lost. Against a _boy_-

"Losing isn't the end of the world," Kazue said gently as she kissed her daughter's head. Eva scrunched her face; she wasn't a child-! "Nor does it mean you weren't good enough, so don't even think it."

Eva glanced to the side as she bit her lip, even as she slowly untangled herself from the hug. Gods, her face still felt hot and her body heavy. "Still..."

"Eva. He said it himself-"

"He had a battle tutor. I should have-"

"Don't start down that road," her mother said as she helped the teenager to stand. "Don't compare yourself to him. You're a fine Trainer as you are."

"I- No. No I'm not. Not yet. Not until-" Her breath caught and her lungs felt as if fire as she stared at the stage, at the battle between two charmander taking place on it. The fire-tails were mesmerising, and if she hadn't known better, she'd have called them flame-tails. "I'm not a fine trainer. Not yet."

"Eva..." Her mother said with a tired sigh.

"But I will be," she said as she tossed the woman a bright, beaming smile and shouldered her bag, the familiar weight more comfort than any words could be. "You'll see. I'm going to get the full set before him."

No... She'd aim for the League. Beat him to it because that way, she'd not only pay him back for the loss in front of everyone in Pallet, but for stealing her first choice of a Starter away. She'd prove that a boy wasn't cut out for the life of a trainer. It'd likely take her a year or two -it was insanity to try and do it in a single Season-, but she'd do it before him.

"The full set?" Her father asked from behind them, Hisa in his arms. The one-year-old giggled as she buried her head against his shoulder, and, call her selfish, but Eva was glad her sister was this young; she'd never remember the almost shameful display on stage. That Atsu was with babysitters due to misbehaviour.

"Yeah. I have to give Hisa an idea of what they look like. Right, Hisa?" Eva said, poking the toddler in the side and earning a giggle. "That and having a sister with a full set is something she can brag about!"

"Someone's taking after her aunt," her father muttered with a fond grin.

"Yeah, well, you still brag heaps whenever she's over," Eva said with a laugh.

"Deadset, dear," her mother added.

"Hahaha... what can I say? She got two sets before 19," her father said as he bounced Hisa on his hip. "But, don't push yourself. Rivals or not..."

"I know, I know," Eva groaned with a wave of her hand as she moved to stand beside Eripi, one hand gripping the bag strap and the other hooked on her belt. "Don't let him rile me either. And if I need money, to ask, and it's ok to come home if anything happens- I know all this!"

She just wanted to set off already. Not get lectured.

"Even so, it never hurts to check," her mother said with a pointed look, and Eva's shoulders rose a little as she crossed her arms. Eripi's giggle earned the older teen a disgruntled glare, while her father's laugh earned him a solid pout and nose-in-air. "But, before you go, here. A gift."

Eva blinked as she stared at the pale pastel-red box, tied off with ribbons of decorative purples and greens, her mother pulled out of her bag and held out. "Ah... you didn't have to?"

"We wanted to. Take it, it's your's, sweetie."

"Well, alright..." Eva took it with both hands and a small bow before tucking it away in her bag. She'd open it later as was custom. "Thanks. Really."

"It's no trouble at all," her mother said as she pulled out another box. "Erin-chan. For you."

"I-I can't-" Eripi said with a headshake as she took a few steps back, hands up in front of her.

"Please. It's the least we can do to help. Take it?"

"I... Thank you so much!" Eripi said with a deep bow as she took the box and quickly stowed it away in her bag. "I'll send something back from Tokiwa, I promise."

"You don't have to..." Eva said with nervous laughter while her mother only smiled and pulled the older teenager into a hug. "You're practically family."

"I- T-th-thank you..." Eripi squeaked out as she awkwardly returned the hug. "Thank you so much."

"It's no problem, dear," the woman said as she eased out of the hug, though Eva didn't miss the flicker of regret. Has this been in the privacy of home, the hug would have lasted until Eripi was the one to pull away. "I'm assuming you're both headed to the 'Centre first?"

"Yeah," Eva said with a nod as she tapped the pokeball on her belt. "I need to heal up Tanknator anyway and it's on the way out."

"And I want to buy some 'balls and potions at the mini-mart there," Eripi added as she scooped up the eevee. "Maybe... Maybe an Everstone for this little one..?"

"I don't think they sell the 'Stones here..." Eva's father said as he swapped Hisa to the other hip. "It's worth asking though."

"Yeah... it is..." Eripi said, arms tightening slightly around said eevee as her head dipped-

Eva's gaze flicked towards the rapidly approaching figure of Ms Sakuran. For such a small lady, the woman cut an impressively imposing figure and the flareon at her side only added to it.

_Wonderful. _

"Um..." Eripi started, only to cut herself off as she tried to push a smile to her face.

"Sakuran-san!" Eva greeted with a bright wave and cheer she didn't feel. _What I wouldn't give to bail on this..._

"Eva-chan, Iden'no-tachi," the woman said with the slightest of nods before she turned a stony gaze on Eripi. "I certainly hope you weren't about to leave without saying goodbye, Erin."

"No, mother," the girl said as she seemed to shrink in on herself. "We were actually just getting ready to find you."

"That's good, because I have a gift for you," the woman said and offered out the plainest, dullest giftbox Eva'd ever seen. "I expect to see it used."

Eripi recalled her eevee before taking it, and from the set of her shoulders, Eva didn't have to guess what was in the box: a Fire Stone, because of course Eripi wanted a flareon like her mother. "Thank you. It will be, mother. And..." Erip bowed, and Eva could see the tension in her friend. Gods, they were so close to getting Eripi away from her mother and out into the world where she could be herself. So close. "Thank you again for allowing me to travel with Eva."

"You will call me every night, won't you?"

"Yes, mother..." Eripi said softly. Eva mentally snorted, even as she nodded as well." Um... We'd like to set off now, if we can?"

"Of course," the woman said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Have a safe Journey."

"Oh, we will!" Eva chirped with a grin. "Uh... We're going to head off now." She grabbed Erpi's hand and shot her parents a grin. "I'll call you tonight, mum, dad."

"Y-yea! talk to you later tonight, mum!" Eripi managed to get out as Eva all but dragged her off in the direction of the Pallet Pokemon Centre, leaving the couple to deal with Ms Sakuran.

"Well," Eva started once they were well on their way, and very much out of sight and earshot of the adults. "What do you say about heading to the 'Centre and then hitting the road?"

"That sounds great," Eripi said in a wavering voice, all but jumping as Eva slung an arm over her shoulders. "Thank you so much."

"You're going to be the best normal-class trainer out there," Eva said, giving Eripi's shoulder a squeeze, "and I won't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"You're the best. Really," the teenager said, head thunked against Eva's as they continued onwards to the 'Centre. "The best in the world."

"Nah. I'm just someone who cares for her mates," Eva said with a wry grin, never mind she'd walk to her own execution for the sake of those she cared about. "But, thanks."

_\- - - -  
__"No. No, I wouldn't, for failure shapes us as much as success."_


End file.
